PHEEBS AND I ENJOYABLY SURVIVED OUR CHRISTMAS ‘HOME ALONE’:))

KELLY’S 2018 CHRISTMAS PHOTO WITH FOUR OF HER FIVE CHILDREN PRESENT

It was a quiet Christmas Eve for Pheebs and I and not much different from most other nights.  I was totally happy to be home.  With Sunday night's snowfall still on the ground I had intended to slip out Sunday night with Pheebs and take some photos of Christmas lights around our Park then slip into Bayfield but all cozily tucked away in our sunroom reading I couldn't seem to stir up enough enthusiasm for heading outside into the cold night.

SNOWPLOWS WERE OUT THIS MORNING

A fresh snowfall overnight freshened up the previous night's snowfall which made for a nice white Christmas for folks.  Pheebs and I headed for Goderich to see if by chance I could find myself a coffee but as suspected both McDonalds and Tim Hortons were closed.  A routine swing down around the harbor and then back through an all but deserted town.

NOT ONE VEHICLE TO BE SEEN ON GODERICH’S USUALLY BUSY CIRCLE

THOUGHT I SPOTTED SOMETHING UNUSUAL, SOMETHING OUT OF PLACE

LOOKING CLOSER I SEE A PERSON AND I THOUGHT ‘WHY WOULD A PERSON BE SITTING OUT THERE ALL BY THEMSELVES ON CHRISTMAS MORNING??  HOPE THEY ARE NOT DISTRESSED ABOUT SOMETHING

I PULLED OVER AND WATCHED FOR A COUPLE MINUTES THEN HAULED OUT MY 8X50  BAUSH AND LOMB BINOCULARS…….’A-HA’

JUST ANOTHER SHUTTER BUG LIKE MYSELF OUT ENJOYING THEMSELVES WITH THEIR CAMERA

WITH ALL THE CANADA GEESE IN THE HARBOR I GUESS WE COULD CALL IT GOOSE BAY ONTARIO

Wasn’t long before we were headed home again even managing to drive ourselves through a few wonderfully refreshing sun splashes along the way.

THAT DEFINITELY IS A ‘BLUE SPRUCE’ OUT THERE

LOVE SEEING THOSE SHADOW ON OUR STREET

With a touch of sun and the sounds of melting snow I was energized to don my RV hat and get myself serious about loading some more things into the Motorhome.  With only 3 days left before hitting the road the pressure is on.  Sometimes, for some unknown reason I just seem to function better under pressure when it comes to certain things.  I also think too many cold gray days had me mentally under the weather again as well.

ONLY THING LEFT TO PUT IN THAT VACANT SPACE IS MY BIG CUSHY RECLINER.

THOROUGHLY ENJOYING MY ‘HOME ALONE’ CHRISTMAS:))

Kelly made it home shortly before 3 this afternoon.  Had a good time seeing her family but was exhausted from all the visiting and so glad to be home again.  Both Kelly and I have noticed over recent years how tiring visiting can be.  I don't recall it being a tiring thing years ago and I'm just not sure what can be so tiring about visiting.  But it is and especially if there are a lot of people…….and kids!!

KIDS ALL LINED UP WATCHING A HOCKEY GAME

KELLY’S DAUGHTER SABRA’S HUSBAND DEREK BUILT THIS ICE RINK FOR THEIR TWO BOYS IN THE BACK YARD COMPLETE WITH FLOODLIGHTS….THE RINK SAW LOTS OF ACTION CHRISTMAS EVE

In a comment on my December 23rd post kaBloonie boonster brought up a good point about the changing times in regards to boon-docking in the Southwest.  Boonie says, “There is a little bit of irony in the complaints of bloggers, some of whom have always been careless about giving explicit directions to 'their perfect camping spot.' How could they have been so naive?  Why was it so hard to understand that if something is truly precious, you don't blabbermouth it all over the internet?”  Boonie, on that side of the coin is quite right of course and I understand well the logic of what he is saying because it is true.  Now, being one of those blabberers (Mr. Blabberfingers) Boonie mentions let me flip the coin over for a minute.  My lament over shrinking boon-docking spots as a result of more RV boon-dockers flooding into the southwest is in no small measure my own un-doing.  As my blog gained readership over the years a number of people were able not only to see photos and read descriptions of our travels but they were also able find out exactly where many of these perfect boon-docking spots were through my directions.  And that's Boonies point.  But here's mine...….I think it's human nature to share 'good things' with others.  If you hear a band you like you tell others, a good restaurant, tell your friends, how about a good movie, yep you will probably recommend it to someone.  If you see something or somewhere you like, you might want to share either one of those things with others as well.  And that of course is where I, Mr. Blabberfingers comes in.   If I like something, I share it.  So here's a hypothetical situation.  I find a beautiful private boon-docking site and instead of not telling anyone about it I share the location with five friends.  A year later I return to 'my' private location only to find my five friends all camped there.  See what I went and did to myself!!  I have been accused by more than one fellow Blogger over the years about blabbing away ‘good sites’ and I stand guilty as charged.  It’s a toughie of course and it’s a coin with two equal opinions of which I can see both sides.  By the way, we've met Boonie a few times over the years with the first time being in Silver City New Mexico and another time in Ajo Arizona.  You can find Boonie on our side bar under, Occupation Of Independence.

HERE’S KELLY TALKING TO THE BOONSTER HIS VERY SELF BACK ON JANUARY 17TH OF 2012

Thank you everyone for your Christmas well wishes whether through comments on my Blog, the Shout Box, Facebook, or Emails.  We wish everyone well and all the best for the coming new year.

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Some friars needed to raise more money for books for the school, so they opened up a small florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the good brothers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him.So, the rival florist hired Hugh MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town to "persuade" them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that "Only Hugh can prevent florist friars."

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- There are two rules for success in life: Rule 1 - Don't tell people everything you know.

- There is nothing so small that it can't be blown out of proportion.

- A tourist asks a man in uniform, "Are you a policeman?""No, I am an undercover detective."  "So why are you in uniform?"  "Today is my day off."

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MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))

Snow came in the night turning our landscape white.  Not a lot of snow but enough to cover everything.  Secondary roads were snow covered and slippery while highways were bare and wet with slushy spots and lots of sand and salt down. 

WE WENT FROM GREEN TO WHITE OVERNIGHT

HEADING OUT OF THE PARK ON SNOWY ROADS

Pheebs and I headed out to check the driving conditions in case Kelly felt more comfortable having Pheebs and I take her to Kitchener.  We headed for Clinton and highway 8 which is the route Kelly will take. 

GRAVEL ROADS WERE ALL SNOW COVERED

WE CALL THIS LAKE EFFECT SNOW

Found the highway to be Okay.  From Clinton we made our way back home via the backroads stopping for a leg stretch at the Bannockburn Conservation Area on the way.  Home shortly after 10.

BANNOCKBURN PARKING LOT

HEADING BACK HOME

Kept our eye on the Exeter live radar feed for the next hour and Kelly felt Okay in taking her own car.  Temps are slowly on the rise and Christmas Day is predicted to be a mixture of sun and cloud.  No precipitation so no problem for her coming back Tuesday.  With a bit of snow in the morning air Kelly headed out at 11:15 later phoning to say everything went Okay:))

A FEW PRESENTS AND A LOT OF BAKED GOODS

ALL SMILES AND READY TO GO

AND SHE’S OFF

Some may wonder why I didn’t go along to be part of the Christmas celebrations in Kitchener and Cambridge.  Main reason is in regards to Pheebs.  Would never leave Pheebs home by herself from midday Monday to after midday Tuesday and taking her along would be too disruptive for everybody plus I know Pheebs would not be comfortable with all the noise and commotion of kids flying around all over the place.  She’s like me, she can take a little bit of that stuff but not a lot…………………

DOWNIE WOODPECKER

Merry Christmas to everyone from we here at The Bayfield Bunch:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( John Smith lived in Staten Island, New York and worked in Manhattan. He had to take the ferryboat home every night. One evening, he got down to the ferry and found there was a wait for the next boat, so John decided to stop at a nearby tavern. Before long he was feeling no pain.When he got back to the ferry slip, the ferryboat was just eight feet from the dock. Smith, afraid of missing this one and being late for dinner, took a running leap and landed right on the deck of the boat."How did you like that jump, buddy?" said a proud John to a deck hand."It was great," said the sailor. "But why didn't you wait? We were just pulling in!"

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